9/11 Quilt

In the days following the tragic events of 9/11, I felt I needed to do something positive, so I began designing and making this quilt.

The quilt has 50 stars on it, to represent each of the 50 states. Embroidered onto the stars are words of things that would get us all through this difficult time-faith, unity, memories, courage, family, hope, heroes, freedom, love, healing, tears, friends, miracles, grace, life, prayers, light, strength, angels. In each of the upper corners, are stars with NYPD and NYFD on them to honour all the men and woman of the emergency services that were running into the towers as everyone was running out.

 On the backside of the quilt, I added quotes and lyrics from songs that I felt expressed what I was feeling about what had happened and to inspire a sense of hope.

This quilt hangs in the entry way of my home in honour of all those lost that day.

Ken's Quilt 

Around the time I was working on my 9/11 quilt, I became involved in an international quilt project to honour the victims of September 11th. I was overwhelmed by the list of over 3000 names, but I finally chose to honour Kenneth Charles Ledee since I had 4 generations of Kens in my family and my great grandfather's name was Charles.

In the course of  researching Ken's life so I could make the block more personal, I  was blessed to come into contact with his family. A wonderful friendship was born.

There are 38 stars on the quilt, one for each year of Ken's precious life. I also embroidered the lyrics to "My Time On Earth". From what I learned about Ken, from his family, I felt it really spoke to the kind of person he was.  The hand in heart is symbolic of the way in which the people that we love leave their fingerprints on our hearts. 

I wanted Ken's family to have a copy of the block since the original was was incorporated into the panels of the UIM quilt and this quilt is the result. It was both my honour and pleasure to have made it for them. I took it to New York in July 2004 to give to them when we met for the first time.

*To visit the UIM quilt, follow the link on my links page.

Folk Art Flowers

This was my last freezer paper appliqué quilt. Not long after I made this quilt, I took a class to learn all about appliqué techniques and fell in love with needle turn.

This is one of my favourite blocks and I just love the colours.  I chose a fabric with fall leaves on it as my focus fabric and then others in my swap group looked at my feature fabric and bought me fat quarters to co-ordinate with it.  

I sewed this quilt top at a quilting retreat. I started off hand quilting it and then it sat for a long time unfinished. One day I got fed up and decided to do it on my machine. After that, I came to the conclusion that I am NOT a machine quilter. It hangs in my dining room but is a generous lap quilt.

This is my husband's 40th birthday lap quilt. I made 40 blocks, one for each of his birthdays and then added the bear at the bottom. At the top, which you can't see, there is a raven standing on the sun.

The quilt is based on a First Nations story about the Kermode bears. Kermode bears are also known as white black bears. One in ten is born white, although not albino. The raven in First Nations culture is the creator. The idea of the quilt is that the Kermode is walking amongst the lumberjacks, which are represented by the plaid fabrics. (The habitat of these rare bears is being threatened in BC by the forestry industry.) According to First Nations legend, the raven decreed that the Kermode shall live in this place in peace forever. Environmentalists are working hard to ensure this stays true.